


pull me back from things divine

by postfixrevolution



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, Pre-Relationship, happy (late) birthday to a very wonderful friend of mine!!!, kamui is here to tell him that NO, leo's having self-worth issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 06:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12858663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/postfixrevolution/pseuds/postfixrevolution
Summary: When Kamui wraps her unwavering arms around him, Leo remembers he is so much more than battle plans and the number of soldiers he has felled in the name of Nohrian glory.





	pull me back from things divine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CacaoMental](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CacaoMental/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, XAYLU!! I am very late, but I hope you like it anyway! I started with a list of things that I thought about when I thought about you, and I hope I was able to convey them well. (I'll drop it in at the end of the fic!)
> 
> Title and some inspiration taken from _Glory_ by Bastille. It's definitely worth listening to.
> 
> Forgive any little mistakes, and I hope you all enjoy! ^^

The candle burns low, but steady, casting warm shadows across the curve of Leo’s face. He is as the lowly flame, burning bright at the beginning of the evening when he first sat down to draft their next battle campaign and slowly diminishing as time passed. It’s been hours since the sun set, plunging all but Leo’s small corner of the library into inky darkness, and he hasn’t moved from his seat once. A frown mars his features as he pulls open another book, watching the candlelight dance across his desk as his movement disturbs the small flame.

He’s looking for a map lodged somewhere in the middle of almost-identical hundreds, and as he turns from one page to the next, grids and topographies bleed into one blurry mess before his eyes. Leo blinks hard, but the images before him become no clearer, and he cries out into the echoing silence of the library, slamming the book shut. The force of his action sends up a flurry of dust and air, stumbling over itself to barrel straight into his lonesome flame, dousing the weak fire and plunging the prince into darkness.

_What am I doing?_ Leo thinks to himself, sighing heavily. He falls sloppily back against his chair, head lolling back and eyes sliding shut. The library is completely silent, not even pervaded by the distant whisper of grasshoppers from the garden two floors and a glass window away; Leo lets himself sit like this for a long moment, waiting for enough of his exhaustion to ebb away so he can continue working.

Alone in the dark, he feels thankfully hidden away from nosy gazes, finally able to let some of the slowly building tension ease its way out from his tense shoulders and tired eyes. Sleep calls to him with a voice equally insistent as that of the unfinished battle plans scattered somewhere before him, and Leo feels his head start to spin at the thought. He tries to focus on the darkness behind his eyelids, but a soft spot of orange slowly blossoms across the inky blackness, turning bright yellow as soft footsteps draw near. When Leo’s earthen eyes flutter open, he blinded by the warm light a small candle and the way it dances across long winter-white hair.

Kamui sounds like she had just woken up, hoarse with drowsiness as her tongue wraps questioningly around his name.

“Leo?”

His voice overlaps with hers as they next speak, the same words tumbling from both his lips and hers.

“Why are you awake?”

They are both too tired to backpedal awkwardly, letting the tepid silence between them sit. Crimson eyes watch him expectantly, no hint of an answer beginning to form on her own tongue. Leo grimaces.

“No one will take care of these battle plans if I do not,” he says, unable to stop a note of exhaustion from drawing out the ends of his words into palpable sighs. “It’s the very least I can do.” She scrutinizes him, a frowning face lit by dancing shadows, and the intensity of her gaze makes him turn away, pulling the book of maps before him once more. “It’s more reason to be awake than you have,” he mutters. “Go to sleep, Kamui.”

Leo hears her click her tongue softly, the warm glow of her candle growing brighter as she nears him. With a dull tap, she sets her candleholder down, causing the small flame to waver slightly at the motion. Kamui sits beside him without a second thought.

“You’re exhausted. What kind of leader would I be if I left you here like this alone?” she asks him, fingers resting gently across the back of his hand.

“I’m our strongest tactician, Kamui. This is the least I can do for our cause. You would be a wise leader to leave me here.”

“I would be a _cruel_ one!” she blurts, nearly cutting his last words off. When crimson eyes stare into his, there is no more sleepiness in them; she stares at him with a resolute gaze, no room for argument left in their fiery irises. “You’re not just a tactician, Leo. A wise leader would know that you’re more.”

“A soldier, as well then,” Leo offers numbly, turning his eyes away from hers. “A prince and a rallying point for his people.”

“A _human_ ,” she intones, insistent fingers cupping his cheeks and forcing him to meet her gaze. She stares at him like he is all she would want to look at for the rest of her life, and Leo feels all the air leave his lungs. “You’re human, Leo. No one should measure you by the plans you make or the titles you have,” she mutters sadly, leaning her forehead against his. “And you shouldn’t, either.”

Leo winces softly, rendered speechless by the unfortunate truth behind her words. Kamui’s hands move from his cheeks to wrap around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug. He lets her pull him close, feeling himself slowly deflate in her unwavering hold. She is warmer than the golden glow of the candlelight that bathes them, and with an almost awkward uncertainty, he circles his arms around her and relaxes, burying his face into her winter-white hair. Leo clings to her with his eyes screwed shut, and he doesn’t realize he is shaking until she rests her head against his, murmuring a soft, “It’s okay to relax, Leo,” against the disheveled strands of his golden-blond hair.

“I am,” he breathes insistently, hands curling into desperate fists at her back. He can feel himself shaking, and when he blinks harshly into her shoulder, water spills over from his blurry eyes. “I will. Just stay with me until I do.”

“You say that like you expect me to leave,” she responds quietly, a breathy laugh coloring the ends of her soft words. Even in the midst of her teasing, she refuses to let him go, and Leo focusses on that steadiness as he wills himself to calm down. When the tremors have left his body, he pulls back slightly, staring into wonderfully warm crimson eyes. She smiles at him, and Leo can’t remember the last time he has ever felt so at peace. As much as he wishes to, Leo knows he can’t stay like this forever.

“But I am not your only follower, Kamui,” he tells her with a bittersweet smile, leaning back to regard her at arm’s length. “Leaving would make you a fair leader, and you…” He pauses for a moment to look at her, face painted in gold and shadows in the low candlelight. Leo brushes reverent fingers against the soft skin of her cheek. “You are truly the fairest of them all.”

He watches as a brilliant pink blush blossoms across her face, and Leo suddenly finds himself thrown into her arms once more, her face buried into his shoulder in embarrassment.

“You can’t say that,” she whines, arms tight around his waist. “You can’t say that and expect me to leave right after. I’m human, too.” Kamui pulls back to gaze up at him, and the violent pink of her cheeks contrasts with her resolute stare and winter-white hair beautifully. “I’d stay here with you forever if you’d let me.”

“ _Forever_ ?” he echoes breathlessly. “Even for such a hopelessly restless tactician as me?”

“For _you_ , Leo, simply as you are,” she corrects him softly. “Forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> _What do I think of when I remember Xay?_   
>  _\- hair, drawn super fluffy and fluid._   
>  _\- sunshine and shadows!! really beautiful light contrast._   
>  _\- warm colors, warmth_   
>  _\- KAMULEO!_   
>  _\- soft interactions, with feeling._
> 
>  
> 
> You're absolutely amazing at everything you do, Xay, inside AND outside of your art. Never forget that! <3


End file.
